East Takes Down Holt With Late Charge

Christian Brooks gave the lead late against . Then he made sure the Lions didn't give it away. 

Brooks powered the Lions offense on East's final drive. The senior running back took the Lions down the field and punched in a score with 1:15 to go in the contest to put East up 18-17 against Holt. 

Holt had one last chance to regain the lead and pick up the crucial Class 5, District 4 victory. That chance ended prematurely for the Indians. On the second play of the possession, Holt quarterback Drew Kitson was rushed and threw up a pass. Waiting for the ball was Brooks, who hauled in the interception and gave East an 18-17 win.

"That was fitting for Christian—on senior night he seals the deal with an interception," East head coach Scott Eacret said.  

The win gives East a leg up in the race for a playoff spot. While just 4-4 on the year, the Lions are now 2-1 in District play with one more game left—next Friday vs. Timberland. 

Both of Zumwalt East's District wins have been of the one-point variety. 

"We'd be little more comfortable if we had a little more points, but our fate is in our own hands," Eacret said. "Anytime you can control your own destiny, it's much better than other people controlling it."

East took an early lead in the defense-dominated contest. After trading punts, the Lions, and Brooks, broke free in a big way. Brooks scampered in from 38-yards out to put the Lions on the board first. A missed extra point made the score 6-0 in favor of the home team.

The Indians thought they broke free early in the second quarter. Tray Mitchell broke off a 90-yard touchdown run, but the play was called back due to a penalty. 

"Getting a 90-yard touchdown called back, I mean, they gotta love that," Holt head coach Ken Moore said. "Zumwalt East had to love that."

Holt would finally answer officially midway through the second quarter. Tre Vaughn took a carry and ran to his left. He found some blockers, found and hole and cut back to the middle of the field. Vaughn darted around the field and dodge tackles left and right. Seventy yards later, he had nowhere else to run and the Indians had a touchdown, and a 7-6 lead. 

The Indians added three more points in the third quarter. Kicker Jesse Rocha nailed a 33-yard kick to put Holt up 10-6 with 17 minutes left to play. 

East retook the lead on the ensuing possession. The Lions marched down the field and quarterback Brandon Barrett—back from a one-game absence from the starting spot after injuring his leg against Zumwalt South on Oct. 1—scored on a 13-yard run. Another missed kick made the score 12-10 in favor of the Lions. 

Holt jumped back on top the next time it touched the ball. After a getting a favorable pass interference call on fourth and eight, the Indians were able to get another touchdown. Mark Cushing punched in the ball from seven yards out and just like that, Holt had a 17-12 lead. 

In the fourth quarter, Holt had the ball with seven minutes on the clock and a chance to ice the game. The Lions defense wouldn't let that happen.

"With the way they played tonight, we had all the faith in the world [we'd get the ball back]," Eacret said. 

East got the ball back and turned the show over to Brooks. The senior broke off a 32-yard run to put the Lions deep into Holt territory.

"Schematically, we knew we had some things there," Eacret said. "We knew we had some things on them last year running those particular plays with Christian. It was just a matter of when he would pop one." 

East then let Brooks run down the clock and he scored with 1:15 left to put East up for good. 

"At team we were good, and at times weren't as good as I would've liked," Moore said. "We had a couple of things go our way, and we had a couple of things not go our way."

Holt (3-4) falls to 1-1 in the District. 

"We should've won that game, plain and simple, but East played tough," Moore said.

The Indians have a game next week with Fort Zumwalt North and a game on Oct. 27 against Timberland—both at home.